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The bad weather described as the “blizzard of the century” should begin to ease on Tuesday in the eastern and midwestern United States, but the toll, currently at least 50 dead, should increase.
The balance sheet of “blizzard of the century”, which killed at least 50 people across the United States, expected to increase as relief progresses and clears the roads.
The extreme cold that has hit the country for several days has been accompanied by heavy snowfall and strong winds, particularly in the Great Lakes region, causing chaos in road and air transport and forcing the cancellation thousands of flights during the Christmas period.
In several airports, the same scenes: hundreds of people queuing following the cancellation of their trip and piled up luggage.
These inclement weather, described as “once in a generation” is expected to begin to ease on Tuesday in the East and Midwest. But they have already killed at least 50 people, including 28 in Erie County, which includes the city of Buffalo, New York.
“One of the worst storms we have ever seen”
“Unfortunately, police expect this number (deaths) to increase,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown tweeted.
“We’re recovering from one of the worst storms we’ve ever seen, unfortunately with the highest death toll we’ve ever had in a storm,” Erie County official Mark Poloncarz said on Tuesday. of a press conference. “We will never forget it,” he added.
In Buffalo, a 22-year-old woman trapped in snow died in her car, according to her family. A video sent by the victim and posted by his sister shows him rolling down the window of his vehicle, surrounded by snow during the blizzard.
Also in Buffalo, a region accustomed to harsh winters, a father, Zila Santiago, and his four young children spent 11 long hours in their car before being rescued, according to the New York Times. Zila Santiago said he called the emergency services, the National Guard and friends to come and help him, in vain, even the emergency services were blocked by snow. So he revved the engine to keep his kids warm and fed them some juice from the trunk until a snowplow finally came to their rescue at dawn.
“We had rescuers fly to the rescue of other rescuers,” Buffalo Deputy Mayor Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney told CNN on Tuesday. “It was necessary to first help the relief workers so that they might go and help the population.”
It is “always dangerous to be outside”
The driving ban remained in effect for the city of Buffalo on Tuesday, local official Mark Poloncarz tweeted. “Please stay out of the city of Buffalo. You are hampering clearing efforts,” he urged, warning that conditions remained dangerous.
“This is clearly the blizzard of the century,” New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said Monday. Even if the intensity of the storm is no longer that of recent days, it is “still dangerous to be outside”, she warned.
The US Weather Service (NWS) has warned of “locally dangerous traffic conditions”.
The total of deaths confirmed by authorities across nine US states is at least 50 dead. In Ohio, road accidents linked to these bad weather killed nine people, the Ohio State Highway Patrol confirmed to AFP.
Rescue teams evacuated hundreds of people from snow-covered cars and homes without power, but others might still be stranded in snow, authorities said. Many homes were left without power – up to 1.7 million on Saturday at the heart of the storm, according to poweroutage.us.
With AFP
